(a) Rectangular-oval cobalt glass bottle with cylindrical screw-top neck; bottle contains 49 Milk of Magnesia tablets; the bottle has rounded (outwards) front and back panels and flat side panels and bottom; there are printed paper labels on the front and back listing product information; (b) metal…

(a) Rectangular-oval cobalt glass bottle with cylindrical screw-top neck; bottle contains 49 Milk of Magnesia tablets; the bottle has rounded (outwards) front and back panels and flat side panels and bottom; there are printed paper labels on the front and back listing product information; (b) metal screw on lid for (a), painted white; (c) one-piece printed cardboard box with flaps at top and bottom to open and close; made to house (a); lists product information.

Number Of Parts

3

Part Names

a - bottle

b - lid

c - box

Provenance

Purchased by Dr. M. Chiong for his patent medicine collection, in Kingston in Aug. 1993.

(a) Bottle shows no chips, cracks or wear; paper labels on bottle (back) show some staining, but are clearly visible; (b) metal lid shows no corrosion or wear; (c) top flap of box is missing; the box itself shows minor staining and some wear, but all writing is clearly visible

Instantine-Plus tablet tin with clasp closure at front; rectangular silver metal tin, enamelled in blue and white; product information, directions, manufacturer's information printed with blue and red enamel in English and French on front and back; extra information printed in blue on underside of …

Enamel faded on tin, especially around edges; tablets are brown and crystallized

Copy Type

Original

Reference Types

JPG

Reference Comments

CD #10

Research Facts

Dr Ralph and Mrs Olga Crawford donated their extensive Canadian dental collection to the DCF to create the museum in 1997; further donations were received while Dr Crawford was Curator Emeritus at the Dental Canada Museum until its closure in 2008

Rectangular box (a) for Lysol Brand Disinfectant; the two largest sides of the box are printed to look like the brown bottle with a yellow cap and inverted triangle label which sits inside the box; the smaller sides of the box are yellow, and the directions for use are printed on them in French on …

Rectangular box (a) for Lysol Brand Disinfectant; the two largest sides of the box are printed to look like the brown bottle with a yellow cap and inverted triangle label which sits inside the box; the smaller sides of the box are yellow, and the directions for use are printed on them in French on one side and English on the other; the top and bottom of the box are red, and the top contains the product name printed in white, as well as residue from a sticker and the number 89; the bottle (b) is nearly full of a liquid and is brown glass with a yellow metal screw cap; the glass is almost flat on the two largest sides, and contains small decorative ridges in the glass; the smaller sides of the bottle are more rounded and the bottle tapers inward so that it is thinner in the middle than at the top and bottom; the bottom of the bottle contains three raised symbols; the bottle's label is an inverted triangle, printed in French on one side of the bottle and in English on the other; the label contains the product name, its purpose, usage directions, amount, warnings, and manufacturing information.

Beginning in the early 20th century, women would often use Lysol, a household disinfectant, as a douche. Lysol advertised this purpose, claiming that it would guard against odors (believed to be a euphemism for birth control).

Before 1911, there were a reported 193 poisonings and five deaths from Lysol douching, and women often complained of burning and blisters. In 1952, Lysol's formula was changed from cresol to become a quarter as toxic as before. The Lysol used in homes today is not the same as the one historically used for douching, and is no longer owned by the same company.

Advertisements for Lysol as a feminine hygiene product often targeted women's insecurities about their bodies and caused them to feel badly about them and feel the need to use a douche to remain clean and fresh. Lines used in different 20th century Lysol advertisements include: "Often a wife fails to realize that doubts due to one intimate neglect shut her out from happy married love", "Day after heartbreaking day I was held in [...] a web spun by my husband's indifference. [...] Was the fault mine?", "No woman who has a normal foundation of good health can be forgiven for failing to "stay young with her husband.""

Lysol was advertised in 1918 as a way to fight the Spanish Flu Pandemic; it was recommended that everything in contact with flu patients, including their rooms, be cleaned with Lysol to prevent the spread of the disease.

Lysol contains phenol, another term for carbolic acid, an early disinfectant employed by Joseph Lister.